WONBIN remembers being consumed by nerves, focused only on getting through the choreography clean. Now, when the song’s unmistakable opening hits at a concert, it’s the crowd’s reaction that pulls him in first. “It still gives me such a rush every time,” he says.

That gap between who they were and who they’ve become sits at the centre of II, RIIZE’s second mini album, released in June. The record takes the founding philosophy – “Rise and Realize” – and pushes it somewhere more specific. EUNSEOK explains the shift plainly: “Rise to Realize” is about growing “through action, new experiences, and everything we learn along the way,” not simply reaching for something higher. After three years of exactly that, he says the phrase “feels like a really good reflection of who RIIZE is right now.”

It shows up in how they talk about the work itself. ANTON describes this era as a step away from the raw performance energy of “Do your dance,” toward something the group has taken to calling “Emotional Pop” – bringing their own feelings into whatever sound they’re trying next. SOHEE, meanwhile, points to something less visible but just as central: the way six people hearing the same song can walk away with six different instincts about it. “When we bring all of those ideas together, we end up catching things none of us would’ve thought of on our own,” he says.

Three years in, that kind of shorthand extends beyond the group itself. SHOTARO’s relationship with longtime director Jinooya has moved past instruction into something closer to collaboration; on the “Do your dance” shoot, he found himself flashing back to their very first video together, “Siren,” and how far their working relationship has travelled since.

What comes through across every answer is momentum. SUNGCHAN wants to try old-school hip-hop next. SOHEE is chasing something heavier, rock-driven. ANTON puts it simply: three years on, he still doesn’t have all the answers, but he’s getting “a clearer sense of the kind of life I want to live.”